SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Buys 118 Shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UniFirst Co. (NYSE:UNF) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 825 shares of the textile maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in UniFirst were worth $151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in UniFirst by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 446,335 shares of the textile maker’s stock valued at $81,639,000 after purchasing an additional 21,685 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in UniFirst by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 8,613 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its position in UniFirst by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 848,299 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $155,162,000 after acquiring an additional 4,078 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance bought a new position in UniFirst in the fourth quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, Oak Family Advisors LLC raised its position in UniFirst by 73.7% in the fourth quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC now owns 2,857 shares of the textile maker’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at UniFirst

In related news, EVP William Masters Ross sold 2,282 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.27, for a total transaction of $399,966.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $707,039.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on UNF. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UniFirst from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of UniFirst from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UniFirst currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.75.

UniFirst Trading Up 1.6 %

UNF traded up $2.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $159.60. 58,843 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 82,107. The company has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.66. UniFirst Co. has a 1 year low of $150.50 and a 1 year high of $187.22.

UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The textile maker reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $590.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.56 million. UniFirst had a net margin of 4.92% and a return on equity of 6.19%. Equities analysts expect that UniFirst Co. will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

UniFirst Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. UniFirst’s payout ratio is 21.60%.

UniFirst Profile

UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company operates through U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, and First Aid segments. It designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments.